The softness about Callum Paterson is not physical. But the imposing Scotland internationalist has an easy affability about him which lends itself to a malleable impression of one willing to please.
The 24-year-old took one for the team when he slotted in at right-back for Scotland in last week’s wins over Albania and Israel, a position that he admitted to feeling a little uncomfortable in.
Having started off as forward before being shunted back at Hearts to a right-back before Neil Warnock restored him to the striker’s berth, it took a while for Paterson to get his head around the duties of his former daily beat.
Not that he is liable to complain too much, even if he fancies laying claim to a more glamorous forward role.
“It takes you a while to get back used to it,” he said. “Everyone says you played it before, you can do it. I know I can do it, but it takes a couple of minutes to get the rust off. Playing up front has given me a broader horizon.
“I can see what’s going on from that point of view. In respect of playing right-back, I can see different passes, different things that are on. It took a while to get into the game, but I felt I got there in the end. Obviously I’ve been playing up front in the Premier League this season, which is a bit different – you don’t get many opportunities [to score].
“I’d like to play the position here one day, but I thought [Steven] Fletcher played really well against Israel and the boys were helping him do the same job. It’s nice to know I can play both positions and that I’m trusted to play both positions.
“I’ve always said I wanted to play for my country. I’ll play in goals, I’ll play anywhere. I’m happy to be on the park, happy to be back.”
The happy to be back line is said quietly and without drama, yet its causal delivery belies a fear Paterson had that he might not make it back on to a football pitch, let alone into the national team.
A cruciate knee ligament injury almost two years ago just as he was entering into the final months of his Hearts contract sidelined him for the best part of a year and although Warnock took a chance on him with an unconventional medical passed while he was still in rehab for his knee, there remained a doubt in his mind.
He has been back in the Scotland fold since then but last week were his first competitive appearances for the national side.
“I thought that that was it not just for country, but for football in general,” he said. “I’m thankful to the people who had faith in me to take me down to Wales and thankful to the manager here for showing faith in me. I'm buzzing to be back.”
The renewed sense of optimism injected into the Scotland set-up following their finishing top of their Nations League group augers well for his continued involvement.
“That’s us nicely through the group now with some games to look forward to in the Euro qualifiers,” he said. “At the start, everyone was a bit sceptical [about the Nations League] and the thought was it could be a bit of a pain, but it’s actually worked out really well and the boys have loved playing every minute. It’s competitive games and that’s the way to do it.
“Everyone likes winning games and doing well, but at the end of the day, if it’s for nothing, it’s for nothing. We won the games in this group and at the moment it’s a bit of an achievement.
“It takes a bit of pressure off, but that doesn’t take anything off the games. We still need to win them and if you finish top two, you don’t need to play the Nations League stuff. We’re going to go in and try to do as well as we can, and if not, we’ve always got a back-up.”
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